With 5.1 million or more emigrated from Venexuela that might have opposed Maduro's re-election,  there are not many left to elect him out of office. Maduro not worried about that. What does the US do when he is re-elected!

Need for the auction to go on and give a specific date and ignore the politics side of this affair. When the day comes that Maduro is forced into auction, I am very confident he will come up with the money to avoid it. Venezuela and its economy need Citgo.  Maduro does not want to pay this even though he can easily do so. It's personal. Also, if he does pay, GRZ and RML will be upgraded.

To me, in the big picture, $1.4B is peanuts.  The US spends $Trillions, overnight and don't blink.